


A plotbunny grown to a ficlet

by Keenir



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Mythology References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-20
Updated: 2013-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-05 06:20:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1090638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keenir/pseuds/Keenir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Loki vanishes after saying he knows a way to defeat the mind-bogglingly-many armadas of Chitauri and other things under Thanos' command, Thor trusts Loki to return with the answer.</p><p>And he gets more than he expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A plotbunny grown to a ficlet

**_Ten Days Til The Attack_ **

Thor said, "You proved yourself once again in the battle against the Dark Elves, and that was to our advantage when I stated that we should trust you," and the prison's cell door opened. "How can I help?" Thor asked.

Loki looked at him a moment, then replied, "Give me your hat."

Not sure what the reason was, Thor complied anyway, handing it over.

"I make no assurances as to if it'll remain in one piece," he told Thor, and then...

Loki vanished.

"Well, that couldn't have been at all expected," Clint remarked.

* * *

**_Six Days Til The Attack_ **

"Why are we here?" Clint asked.

"I remember this place," Steve said. "It was the one spot that had a nest of HYDRA agents, but no factories or anything else being produced by HYDRA." _Peggy had some theories as to what was going on, what made it so damned attractive to the Red Skull..._ "And given the interest HYDRA had in things like the Tesseract and anything else with ties to Asgard... Did anyone you know live here?" he asked Thor.

"Several someones," Thor said. "I will not summon them, however."

"Why not?" Clint asked. "They aren't powerful enough to help us? Every little bit helps."

"On the contrary, they are quite powerful. That is why I will not awaken them. I have faith in Loki's ability to help."

"He ran," Clint reminded him.

"And what aid could he have raised up in the depths of a SHIELD base?" Thor asked, and headed back to the helicarrier's flyer.

Steve followed him, trusting Thor's judgement.

Clint trailed behind.

"Your cowering before their distrust, could well have lost you much now, Thor," whispered the figure buried in the shadows of the site. "And I could not have fixed that."

* * *

**_Two Days Til The Attack_ **

Loki reappeared in Stark Tower, tumbling like he had teleported while falling down a long flight of stairs.

"Why does he smell like fresh asphalt that got wet?" Stark asked.

Thor looked Loki over... The stump of his left hand no longer bled. Several ribs were missing, combined with scar tissue in a location which Thor knew had only one function: _to reach beneath the ribs and remove the heart._ Another scar over where the stomach should be.

"Brother?" Thor asked.

Loki coughed something that could have been a laugh, could have been part of a lung. "Done. Done, Thor. Now let me sleep while you play host."

"Host? To..." trailing off as he saw several hooded figures appearing in the spot Loki had materialized here. "Are they...?"

"Advance guard, yes. Some you'll recognize. Now put me down."

Thor did so, but only with the greatest reluctance once one of the figures said -

"He will not die, Thor of Asgard. That would render it all moot. Useless."

"Lady Duza?" Thor asked her.

"I am still," she replied, pulling back her hood, revealing the massive dark glasses and Thor's fluffy hat. "You do not know Raat, to my right; but Rann, to my left, you do."

"By repute," Thor said.

"Friends of yours, buddy?" Stark asked.

"High nobility, friend Stark. I present the Lady Duza. The goddess Raat. The goddess Rann."

"Duza? Like, what, like Medusa?"

She replied, "My name has been pronounced worse. I am she."

"Uh, Thor, ol' buddy, do you have any idea who your brother just brought to the Tower?" Stark asked.

"I do," Thor said. "Loki saved her life."

"At a cost most acceptible," Duza said. "The Dwarfs and Alfs and Jotnar are en route."

Said Rann, "As are the servants and loyalists of my goodhusband AEgir, and those of Surt and Sutur."

Said Raat, "Setukh and his beloved are coming in the storm, enveloped by those who serve them and those who obey them. My father Anubis comes as well, as do the swarms of Khepera."

Said Duza, "Even the kin and enemies of Coatlique have been persuaded by Loki to come here and prove their mettle against the rogue Titan whose skull is red."

"Sir?" Jarvis said.

"Yeah?" Stark asked.

"There is something approaching on deep-space telemetry," Jarvis said. "It appears to be a planet."

"A living planet, or a spaceship the size of a planet?" Stark asked.

"Jormungandr has arrived," Loki said, barely looking up.

"A snake? You're bringing a snake to a gunfight? What, is it in the planet, like a worm?"

"Mind your tongue, Stark," Thor suggested. "Jormungandr does not encircle a world; Jormungandr sleeping is coiled up, and may be taken for a planet." Thor then looked to Loki and said proudly, "You accomplished all this, brother."

"If you knew Thanos as I have known him, you would have sacrificed this much as well to see his end," Loki said. "Vanth and her allies should be swooping down soon enough. Grendel's heirs will be coming with the tide, no doubt."

"Each of the Realms, each of the empires, each of the pantheons, all demanded something different of Loki," Duza said. "He gave up more than you have seen, Thor."

* * *

Thor looked at the assembled, all the Realms and races and pantheons and more. _Loki did this. He made it happen._

"There was another prophecy, Thor, Prince of Asgard," Duza said. "That the Realms would be reunited beneath a single banner. And that the Sacrificer would lead."


End file.
